Yesterday I set out to install Petty's front/rear sway bars and front/rear strut tower bars. I was hoping to be able to post pictures with excitement but as luck would have it, this is not the case.

I installed the rear sway bar and was torquing the cradle bolts. I snugged all four down and used a torque wrench to torque them. I got to the final bolt (in the front) and the bolt snapped. I have never had such a good day go to shit so fast. I feel completely defeated and need advice on how to fix this.

I have attached pictures of the broken bolt and the location of where it goes.

How would you recommend fixing this? I have fixed broken bolts before but never in a spot like this.

Might have to drop the cradle down again to gain access to what's left of the bolt. If there is enough left sticking out, you might be able to grab it with a good set of vice grips, or weld a nut on the end of it. If there isn't enough to grab on to, it's going to be a challenge. It may require an extractor set, or drilling a pilot hole in the center and hammering a torx socket into it to grab on. Then push it into it as you loosen. If that's something you're not comfortable doing, definitely take it to a shop.

At least you know it's not seized, and without the head of the bolt, there shouldn't be much torque on it.

Maybe consider replacing all of the cradle bolts.

Edit: Just looking at your picture, that looks like the diff mounting bolt location. Is that what you broke?

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Edit: Just looking at your picture, that looks like the diff mounting bolt location. Is that what you broke?

Thanks for the advice BlackHemi41... Yes it is the differential mounting bolt location that snapped. I dont believe there is any threads hanging out but will take a better look today. It broke at the end of the day Saturday after working on the car all day. I was demoralized and tired so I called it quits.

I found out what i did wrong. Dodge calls the two bolts on the front of the cradle (near the differential) the rear axle forward mount isolator bolts (see attached image). Their torque specifications for those bolts is only 52 lbs. I confused this with the rear crossmember bolts and over torqued them.

I am capable of dropping the cradle but my fear is that to extract this I would have to fully drop it and get it out of the way which may be more than I want to do on my garage floor. At this point I am going to reach out to the dealer as well in case it looks like I can't get to the threads. I'm so disappointed in myself for making such a stupid mistake. Either way, life goes on.. Hopefully this will help others out.

Looks like you will need to just drop the diff and use a left-hand drill with a screw extractor. If there is a little of the bolt sticking out I have had success welding a nut (need a nut with a larger i.d. than the bolt o.d.) to the bolt and backing it out. Good luck man!

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I would definitely try a left hand screw extractor before dropping the craddle.

I did some research and dropping the rear diff doesnt seem so bad. Hopefully, the bolt plays nice and is easy to remove. I used my endoscope to get a better picture of the snapped bolt. It looks like a pretty clean snap. There is a small ridge so i may try to soak in pb blaster and use a punch to see if i can tap it at an angle to get it to spin back out. If not, I will try left handed drill bits.

Now if I can only find the bolts in time.. Steve white didnt have the "single use" driveshaft bolts in stock. I didnt even ask about the isolator bolts.

I did some research and dropping the rear diff doesnt seem so bad. Hopefully, the bolt plays nice and is easy to remove. I used my endoscope to get a better picture of the snapped bolt. It looks like a pretty clean snap. There is a small ridge so i may try to soak in pb blaster and use a punch to see if i can tap it at an angle to get it to spin back out. If not, I will try left handed drill bits.

Now if I can only find the bolts in time.. Steve white didnt have the "single use" driveshaft bolts in stock. I didnt even ask about the isolator bolts.

Looks like a perfect candidate for a screw extractor. Although, I have only used the square type extractor.

Looks like a perfect candidate for a screw extractor. Although, I have only used the square type extractor.

yeah I would use a left handed drill bit to set your pilot for the extractor. Based on the design of that bolt and how it snapped you may get lucky and have it come out just by using the left handed drill bit.

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